Page 10 of Vincenzo (The DiMaggio Crime Family #3)

VINCENZO

S he’s still here.

She’s still fucking here after I told her ass to leave. And to think I gave her the courtesy of not telling my brother about her plan.

If Teo knew about the Velascos’ plan to kidnap Izzy and Lux, he wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of the problem. Usually, I’d be the one to get rid of it for us, but there’s something about that little hellion that has me wanting to keep her alive.

It’s fucking infuriating.

But even though I don’t plan on following through with my threat, I don’t want her in my city… and she’s still in my fucking city.

A knock sounds at my office door, drawing my attention to the small window at the top of it. I nod at Rocco to come in.

“What’s up?” I ask from behind my desk.

“A couple people just showed up who I think might be of interest to you,” he says.

“A couple people?” I ask, raising a brow at him. I swear if he says who I think he’s going to say…

Rocco nods. “Yup. Who you’re thinking of; yes.”

I let out a long sigh and say, “Velasco and Montoya?”

His nod has me rising from my seat and stalking over to the window that overlooks the dance floor. “Where?” I bark out.

“Right in the middle of the dance floor,” Rocco says, pointing in the direction.

I scan the area and find her quickly. Heat rises throughout my body while she dances with fucking Montoya with a drink in her hand.

She’s swaying her hips to the beat of the music while Montoya’s fingers grip her waist in a possessive way that doesn’t sit well with me. Her hair falls around her heart-shaped face as she rolls her head from side to side.

“Bring her up here,” I growl out.

“You want Montoya too?” Rocco asks.

“Nah. Just her.”

Rocco exits my office and heads toward the stairs that lead to the dance floor. I keep my eyes placed firmly on Amalia while he makes his way to her. When she lifts her head, she runs her fingers through her hair, whisking it out of her face as she makes eye contact with him.

She continues to move her hips to the music while Rocco leans over and speaks in her ear, and as if it’s déjà vu, her eyes snap up to my window and she shakes her head.

Did she just fucking tell me no?

Turning her back on Rocco, Amalia wraps her arms around Montoya’s neck, and his hands fall to her ass, giving it a squeeze.

Oh, fuck this.

Ripping open the door, I march my ass down the metal stairs. When Rocco sees me, his eyes widen—surely from the crazed look on my face if it’s anything like what I’m feeling—and he steps to the side.

Blind rage runs through me at the fucking audacity of this woman. First, she decides to stay in my city after threatening my family. Now, she wants to come into my club and ignore my request to speak to her?

I think the fuck not.

I’ll make her fucking speak to me.

Pushing my way through the heated crowd, I close in on Amalia.

Montoya’s so consumed with her he doesn’t even realize I’m standing directly in front of him. His face is lowered to hers in an intimate way, which has me thinking there might be more between these two than she let on, and it grates on my last damn nerve.

I take a deep breath to help calm the beast within me because I have no reason to be acting like, what? A jealous fucking boyfriend? Yet, when I see Montoya lower his hands to Amalia’s ass again, that beast comes back alive, and I wrap my hand around Amalia’s arm and drag her off the dance floor.

“Hey!” she yells, attempting to tear herself from my grasp, but I whip back around, and her body slams into me. Her delicious fucking scent invades my nostrils, and I have to shake away the intoxication.

Leaning so my lips are at her ear and she can hear me over the bass of the music, I say, “ Don’t make a fucking scene in my club, or this will end terribly for you.”

When I pull away, her glare holds mine, but after a few seconds, her tensed bicep loosens in my grip. I take that as a sign of her submission and continue to lead her up to my office.

After shoving her inside, I turn around to shut the door and lock it. Rocco easily detained Montoya, but in case he decides to be a nuisance, I want my bases covered.

When I turn around, I’m surprised to find Amalia already in my space, pushing me up against the door with something cool and sharp against my neck.

“What makes you think you can manhandle me like that?” she all but growls out, her big brown eyes laser sharp on mine.

I can’t help the smirk that tugs at my lip.

“You’re cute when you’re threatening me,” I goad.

She applies more pressure to the blade flush against my neck, which draws a chuckle out of me. The movement has the blade scraping my skin, and I can already tell from the slight tinge of pain that it has pierced me.

Her gaze moves to my throat, and a small smile tugs at the corner of her lips.

“Your blood looks pretty on the edge of my blade,” she says sweetly, then her lips flatten and her eyes darken, as if a whole new person is standing before me in the blink of an eye.

“But touch me again without my permission, and we’ll see just how pretty your blood looks when it’s all over it. ”

Fucking hell.

The way her sugar-sweet voice changed so quickly with the threat on her lips has my cock poking at the seam of my pants. She’s a damn firecracker.

Shoving off me, she backs away and raises her brows at me. “So, why’d you drag me up here?”

Pushing off the door, I run my hands down my shirt, straightening it out. “Do you recall the conversation we had the other day in the alleyway?” I don’t wait for her to answer. “I’m sure you do.”

She continues to glare at me, and I have to say, this girl is enticing.

I’ve never had anyone ignore my threat before because they know they would end up dead.

But this one ignores my threat and provokes me after.

The little hellion doesn’t give two shits that her life could end in a heartbeat, and that has me intrigued as fuck.

I nod at the knife in her hand. “How’d you get that in my club?”

Without taking her eyes off me, Amalia tosses it up in the air without a flinch. It flips a few times before the handle lands back in her hand. She remains quiet, but two can play that game.

After what feels like a fucking eternity, Amalia finally rolls her eyes and answers. “Zirconia carbide.”

Of course.

Zirconia carbide is sharper than steel, lasts longer, and contains no metal.

“Where’d you get a knife like that, little girl?”

Amalia’s eyes never leave mine. “It was my dad’s.”

I don’t comment on that because I recognize the split-second hurt in her eyes before she covered it up.

When researching Amalia’s history, I noted her parents were killed in a gang shooting ten years ago, which puts her at the age of fourteen when it all happened.

Young.

Too damn young to lose your parents.

Ignoring the strong feelings of empathy, I change the topic back to the real issue. “Why the fuck are you still here?”

“You think I’d let your threat scare me off? Please,” she scoffs. “I’ve dealt with far worse than you.”

I close the distance between us in two long strides, forcing her to crane her neck to keep eye contact with me. You’d think I’d keep a safe distance from her when she still has that knife in her hand, but I don’t give a fuck.

“I can promise you haven’t dealt with anyone like me,” I say, my voice deadly controlled.

She narrows her gaze on me, looking deep into my eyes as if she’s studying me. “There must be something the Velascos can offer in return for port access. Name whatever it is, and it’s yours.”

Being so close, I take a moment to study her features, and man , she really is fucking beautiful.

If she were any other woman, I’d take her right here, right now in my office, but, unfortunately, she’s not.

She’s the enemy. The woman who threatened my family.

A low-life sex trafficker. And I can’t have that.

“There’s nothing we need from people like you.”

I remember catching the smallest clench of her jaw when I called her a sex trafficker the other night. It’s as if she took offense to it, wincing at my words, and tonight, I catch her doing the same thing.

“There must be something,” she grinds out, and I laugh at the desperation in her tone.

Taking a step back, I rake my gaze down her body, appreciating her tight leather pants that mold to her delicate curves, her black lace top that showcases her perky as fuck tits, and her red thigh-high boots that match her lips.

Amalia lets out a humorous scoff and shoves her knife into the top of her boots. I fucking knew it.

“You say you don’t fuck around with people like me,” she says, crossing her arms in front of her chest, causing her tits to rise up even more, “yet you can’t help but blatantly check me out anytime we’re in the same room.” She raises a cocky brow at me.

I give her a low chuckle and shove my hands in my pocket.

“And don’t even get me started on that possessive look of desire that seeps into your eyes whenever we’re around each other. Doesn’t really scream you don’t fuck around with people like me .”

I give her another deep chuckle. “Well, it looks like you have me all figured out, then.”

Narrowing her gaze on mine, Amalia says, “Not quite yet, but I’m getting there.”

I let out an exasperated sigh. “Look, do I find you physically attractive? Of course. What man wouldn’t? It’s human fucking nature, sweetheart. I have eyes, but don’t make it something it never would be, because my level of interest in a person like you, even if it is just to fuck, is nonexistent.”

My words are harsh, and my condescending tone only makes them worse, but I don’t like being called out on something I can’t help. Amalia is fucking gorgeous, and her prickly attitude is enamoring, but there’s nothing I can do about that. Even if my body tells me otherwise.

“I want to meet with your brother,” she says. “The actual boss.”

I throw my head back in a fit of laughter. “So you are trying to get yourself killed here, huh?”

She stares at me while I continue to bark out a laugh. “You’re incredibly obnoxious,” she says.

I stop laughing, and my tone gets serious. “And you’re incredibly stupid if you think you’d survive a meeting with my brother.”

“You clearly don’t know what I’m capable of.”

“And you clearly don’t know what I’m capable of.” I release a scoff and shake my head. “You should be thanking me that you haven’t met Teo yet.”

“And why’s that?” she asks with a quirk in her brow.

“You would already be six feet under if you had.”

She crinkles her brow. “Because I merely suggested an alliance with a powerful cartel?”

“Because you’re planning—” I stop myself from saying the words she doesn’t know I know.

My brother laughed at their suggestion of an alliance, but if he knew her plan to kidnap Izzy and Lux, then he’d put a bullet in her head and her heart for good measure.

I should fucking tell him. I should fucking tell him and get this shit over with so I can move on with my life…

but dammit , there’s something holding me back.

Shaking my head, I force those words back down my throat and say, “Just get the fuck out of my city, Amalia. Go back to Miami and tell your uncle that if he ever tries this shit again, blood will be shed.”

She watches me for a few moments, then finally says, “Fine.”

As she walks toward me, her sharp eyes never leave mine, and just when I think she’s going to continue on to the door behind me, she stops right next to me.

When I turn my head to look at her, her penetrating gaze is already on mine. “I tried to make this easy for you. Just remember that.”

Without waiting for a response, she exits my office, and I’m left standing here wondering if I’ve made the right decision when it comes to Amalia Velasco.